


Ever Since We Met

by orphan_account



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Convent-like AU, F/F, Happy (Belated) Halloween, Minor Violence, TW for blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 01:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8426296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "You say I have nothing to be afraid of. But..."She found Byul's eyes. They were sad, and tired, but distant, and Yongsun felt her own eyes heavy, as if she didn't want to be seeing that face, for some reason."How can you be so sure we're not going to be next?"Byul smiled. A tiny smile that didn't reach her eyes."I wouldn't let anything happen to you."





	

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be out by halloween but who cares, happy belated halloween!! 
> 
> title from a Panic! At The Disco's song: 
> 
> "From the first day  
> Your perfume intoxicates me, my love  
> It is in these moments  
> I want to be like you at times  
> But since that day  
> I have a single regret..."

She could hear the footsteps. The low voices that meant nothing but carried through the corridor as if they were meant to be heard. Yongsun felt her back stiff, fingers carding through the fabric of her robe. No one was moving. No one seemed to be breathing. She could see Eunha praying into her beads, eyes closed.

  
Boots on the corridor. Yongsun's heart lept in her chest but the steps faded again - they had gone into the room next to theirs. She could hear rustling, drawers being pulled back. She risked a glance at their drawers, the one on her right with her candles and books atop. She had forgotten to clean it up the last time they had done a mass cleaning. For some reason, that was enough to distract her for a second. _It's dusty, you can actually see the dust, they will see the book has been moved but the rest hasn't_  - and suddenly the boots were heavier than ever, walking towards them.

  
The Colonel went in first. He was a sturdy, pink-faced guy with a stained moustache. He walked in without saying a thing, as if these were his rooms, and not theirs. Yongsun resisted the urge to raise her hand to wipe a bead of sweat from her brow as the men kept pouring in - after the Colonel there were officers, two short, one tall, all of them with guns attached to their backs and hips - until finally it was Mrs G. and Byulyi.

  
Yongsun stared at Byul, but no matter how hard she looked, the woman wouldn't look back at her. It was as if she was purposefully avoiding Yongsun's eyes, chin high, lips locked tight. She kept watching the men go through the room, searching the four beds, their closets, their drawers, all the while not moving anything except her eyes. Yongsun could see she was holding her hands tight in front of her - she _knew_  this was hard for Byul. She wanted to say something, do something, but apparently she couldn't. Or wouldn't.

Yongsun looked around her, at the men going through their things with little to no care. Eunha had started shaking on the spot, although no one seemed to have noticed it.

Soon the Colonel said they were done and out they went, to the corridor and then to the next room. Eunha collapsed on her bed, sobbing, and Hyejin went up to her at the same that Byul hesitated to leave the room.

Yongsun took this as her chance to approach her, leaning close to whisper, "Did it happen again? Is that what this is about?"

Byul looked down at Yongsun's hand on her arm, frowning slightly. "Not now, Sister."

"Just tell me," Yongsun pleaded as she tried to leave only to be taken aback by Yongsun's hand on her. "Please."

Eunha's sobs were a lot softer now, and the trashing around had started in the next room. It was obvious Byul was about to leave, but she stayed long enough to look at Yongsun and nod. They looked into each other's eyes for a second before Byul broke the eye contact and left, leaving Yongsun to feel her entire body cold with dread.

  
Again. It had happened again.

 

x

 

"Byul. Byul!"

Yongsun jogged the last meters to catch to Byul as she was leaving her quarters. In all the time they had known each other, Yongsun had never quite learned to read her eyes. Sometimes they looked cold, dettached like now - and she couldn't for the life of her tell why. Sometimes they were warm, and loving, and full of sentiment - but those times were rarer, sparer, and usually only happened inside a locked room, with the moon shining down on them.

The cold eyes, however common, were harder to deal with.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

Yongsun crossed her arms before her chest, impatient. She looked around and lowered her voice. She felt 15 again for doing so. "What happened. Why were the officers looking here? Where was the last victim murdered?"

That got a reaction from Byul. Not much of a reaction, but a sort of non-reaction. She stared at Yongsun, motionless. "Are you scared?"

"No," Yongsun replied quickly, then shook her head more slowly. "No, it's not-- I don't know. I don't know if I'm supposed to be scared."

She gave Byul a pointed look. It was Byul's turn to look around and guide Yongsun into her office again, closing the door behind them. The place looked exactly the same; the same stack of papers on the desk, the shelves full of books, the large, panelled windows closed against the windy wheather. Yongsun turned back to look at Byul, uncrossing her arms.

Byul went to her desk and took a small bottle from one of the drawers along with two glasses. She filled hers, but Yongsun shook her head no so she put the other one back.

"You have no reason to be scared."

"But there _has_ been another murder."

Byul took a sip, leaning against her desk. Her robe was a dark shade of blue, almost a stark contrast to her silvery hair. She was looking past Yongsun, through the windows, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Yes. In the village."

Yongsun let herself sink to a chair, "No." She processed the information. "Is that why-- Do they think one of us did it?"

Instead of answering, Byul took another sip. She finally met Yongsun's eyes, and in that moment, Yongsun saw: the warmth, just a tiny bit of it, like a burning log fizzling out. She felt compelled to stand up and end the distance between them, but that was not the time for it.

"Do you think it's possible?"

"What is?"

"That one of us did it. Someone from the Court."

Byul's eyes went cold again, and that coldness seemed to freeze Yongsun from the inside. She shriveled up on the chair, hugging herself, watching as Byul looked outside throught the windows again, finishing her drink.

"I don't know," she said finally, her voice tired, grieving. Yongsun wondered just how much Byul was hiding. How much did she know? As the Second, she was in most of the meetings, and Yongsun knew Mrs G. trusted her as she would a daughter. Except that Byul was young, maybe too young for the job, even though Yongsun couldn't see anyone else up for the job as she was.

But perhaps _it was_ too much for her. It seemed to be wearing her off, making her look older than she really was. More tired, serious and far more closed off than Yongsun remembered her being years ago. This Byul was hiding things from her, something the Byul from their teenage years would never do. Yongsun wanted to ask, wanted to know more, but she wasn't sure she wanted to push her too hard. There was only so much a person could take, no matter how strong they were. 

Besides, Yongsun felt like she couldn't. Like she didn't dare. 

Yongsun stood up, ready to make her leave. She was supposed to be in the greenhouse, but she stood there, watching Byul's boot peeking from under her robe, not wanting to leave. The day was quiet, a quietness that bordered on eeriness. Sensing that and regretting having to break that silence, Yongsun slowly formed the words on her lips, her eyes going up to search for Byul's.

"You say I have nothing to be afraid of. But..."

She found Byul's eyes. They were sad, and tired, but distant, and Yongsun felt her own eyes heavy, as if she didn't want to be seeing that face, for some reason.

"How can you be so sure we're not going to be next?"

Byul smiled. A tiny smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Yongsun nodded. That wasn't the first time they had had to say those words. It wasn't unusual for them, or their lives. But she still didn't move, and finally Byul leaned away from her desk and walked to Yongsun, taking her face in her hands so gently that it was almost as if she were wearing soft, silk gloves.

"And nothing's going to happen to me. I promise."

Their lips met, just briefly, more a touch than a kiss. They were both cold, and a sigh escaped Yongsun's lips, mixing with their breaths and turning into nothing.

Soon she was out the door, bringing her coat closer around her, dreading the hours until nighttime.

 

x 

 

It was a warmer day when they walked past the late victim's ceremony.

Yongsun hadn't known. She didn't know she would have to walk past the cries of a chubby, middleaged woman, ignoring every hand that tried to pull her off the ground. The path the Courteans had taken that day to the barn crossed the clearing where the ceremony was being held. It wasn't noon yet, and Yongsun had heard the woman's cries from the distance before spotting her. Surrounded by a large group of people, a wooden retangular box lay there under the sun, partially covered by a white sheet.

Yongsun also wouldn't have known it was a ceremony for the murdered victim if they hadn't been spotted then. A man had seen them, walking down the path in silence, baskets in hand. He stood up slowly, and Yongsun should've seen it coming, but she didn't. Not in the haze, not as she watched the woman crying on the floor, dress covered in mud.

"Oy!" The man yelled, startling a few people around him. "Get out of here! Get out of our village, you monsters! This, right here, is all your fault. You killed him, didn't you?!"

A few of the women stopped in her tracks, but most kept walking ahead. Yongsun was one of them. She turned around, knowing that Byul wasn't there, but wanting to check all the same. Something about the whole scenario seemed off - Yongsun had a bad feeling about it.

"Did you hear me? Piss off!" He shouted again, louder, taking a step towards them. He wasn't tall, but he looked strong, a long dark beard running down his chest. The skin around his eyes was red. The women who had stopped in surpise started walking again, as more people turned to see who the guy was yelling at. Some of them were standing up, too, and getting closer. Yongsun felt her feet slip in her boots - she was sweating, anxiously wishing they had taken a different path.

"Is it true?" A croaky, much lower voice asked. Yongsun was surprised to see the woman from before looking back at them, still kneeling on the ground. Her face was stricken with tears, her eyes swollen - Yongsun wanted to go back, help her off the ground, but she couldn't, could she? "Did you do that to my boy? Was that one of you girls? Or all of you? Why would you that? He was such a…Such a nice boy. He didn't deserve…He didn't..."

"Of course it was them," a second man said, his loud voice echoing in the trees. They were almost out of sigh to them now, but their voices still carried. "Children of the devil, those are." He spat on the ground, and around him there was a murmur of people agreeing with him. Yongsun wanted to run, but she couldn't - there were more Courteans behind her, and leaving them alone wasn't an option.

She was proven right when she heard it. One voice - she couldn't tell whether male or female - raised above the others, screaming one single word.

It was followed by heavy footsteps, and then a loud thud and a cry.

And then chaos.

It happened too fast for Yongsun to even move. One of the Courteans dropped her basket and wobbled on the spot. The ones closest to her held her ground, while the villagers raised to an uproar. The blood started pouring down her face, which was when Yongsun finally understood she had been hit. Someone had thrown something at them. By the time Yongsun got there, the others were doing the same, and together they shielded the woman away from the confusion.

 

x

 

They were lying on bed, Byul's face resting against Yongsun's collarbone, watching the clouds cover and uncover the moon. It was very quiet outside. They couldn't hear anything from Byul's room. It was as if everyone else were in bed, quietly watching the moon, no one daring say a thing.

"It doesn't make sense," Yongsun whispered against Byul's scalp, running her fingers through her hair. "Us, not leaving."

"Mrs G thinks--"

"I know. She thinks the villagers might turn on us."

Silence.

Yongsun slowed her fingers until she stopped completely, hand hanging above Byul's hair.

"Or is it the opposite?"

Byul shifted so she could meet her eyes. "How so?"

"Does… Does Mrs G thinks it's one of us?"

"Why would you say that?"

Yongsun didn't answer. There was nothing from both of them for a while, Byul leaning against her once more, leaving a soft kiss on Yongsun's skin before resting her head there.

"You have nothing to be afraid of," she said, voice low, echoing on Yongsun's body. "You're safe."

Yongsun noted the _you_  and wondered what made Byul forgo the _we_.

 

x

 

Another murder, further down the valley. Then another, by the lake. Then a disappearence that got the village into a frenzy before turning into the fifth murder. By then, the Court was a fortress. No one left the perimeter, and no one dared cross it. A group of villagers tried to break into it, armed with pitchforks and torches - as if they were savages, for Goddess' sake! - but perhaps they were too scared to actually do it as per usual. Yongsun watched it all unfold from a high window; their rage, the stones thrown at the gates, the sun setting slowly behind them and casting an orange-and-blue glow to the scene.

It didn't look good. They were cornered. And there was nothing that could convince her that danger was outside and not there, trapped inside with her. Whoever it was - _whatever_ it was - it wasn't stopping. And no one seemed willing to stop it either. For a mad second, Yongsun wondered if she would be up to the task of finding this beast, this monster, this madman… But the thought scared her too much. She wasn't a fighter, had never been. And whoever - whatever - it was, it had killed grown men and women. No, she wasn't going to get involved.

If she could avoid it.

As soon as she came to that conclusion, the day after the attempted invasion, she felt a cold draft hit her. She recoiled, bringing her coat tighter around her, and turned around. The library seemed to be deserted, almost dead. But then she heard it, a door slamming somewhere close. There were footsteps, quick, erratic ones, and Yongsun's heart started hammering against her ribcage. It didn't sound good. No. Something was happening.

Someone walked past the library door in a hurry, a dark robe and silvery hair--

Byul.

Yongsun went after her before she could think it through. Byul should be with Mrs G, shouldn't she? The hallway was empty when Yongsun got there. She looked one way and the other, but Byul was nowhere to be seen. Had it been an illusion? No, she had definitely seen her. And heard the door slam. Anxious, not quite wanting to stay in the same place, Yongsun turned right and started down the hall. She could hear voices coming from the meeting salon, and she could almost picture the other women gathered there, talking all over each other, trying to come up with a solution no one had.

Just as she was about to turn around and head over there with the others, feeling that maybe she didn't want to be all alone right now, she saw it. The stairs to the basement and to the kitchen. She stopped, breathing hard, hands holding some of her robe up, realizing only now that she had been running. Her hair had come loose at the sides and she pushed a strand out of her eyes, looking down at the stairs a few feet way from her.

Byul could have gone down there. It was the most obvious explanation.

Heart still beating uncontrollably, Yongsun started going down the stairs, slowly. She tried to be as silent as possible, even though she didn't know why she felt compelled to do that. Was she scared? Obviously. But of what? If Byul was down there, it was a good thing, wasn't it? It should be. Yongsun felt her head spin a little as she went down, step by step, the light from the candles barely shining through the darkness down there. There was just that. Darkness. Smooth, silent, unmoving darkness. She knew those steps, she had taken this same route several times, but there was something about it now. Something that made Yongsun queasy on her stomach, her feet slippery inside her boots, her fingers shake just slightly as she kept them hovering the stone walls.

The final step. There was the same stone wall in front of her, and if she looked to her left or right she could see a little better. Severel doors opened on each side, most leading upstairs and to the dining room. To her left she could see the door to the kitchen; to her right, the door to the basement. As she hesitated, she heard a clank coming from the right. And rushing water. Without thinking, she started towards the sound, each step echoing louder than the first, until she was running and reaching an open door.

"Byul?"

The washing room looked gloomy, and she could see why. There were only two candles lit, far from each other, leaving half of the room in darkness. Leaning over one of the huge sinks, Byul seemed to be washing something frantically, although she stopped abruptly when Yongsun called her.

"Are you alright?" Yongsun asked, walking in.

Byul seemed to have frozen on spot. She didn't try to move away, or hide her arms, which Yongsun realized was what she had been trying to wash. The light flickered over her weirdly, and Yongsun walked closer, trying to understand why Byul's arms looked stained, her hands covered in what looked like mud.

It wasn't until Yongsun was barely a meter away from her that she understood. She might have gasped, but she couldn't tell. Her stomach fell when she realized Byul's arms were covered in blood. Her robe looked spotless, but her coat was hung over the sink closest to her, and suddenly Yongsun was scared to put her hand on it and feel it damp.

Not only damp, but warm.

Blood.

Blood was warm, wasn't it?

"Are you alright?" She asked again, out of breath, trying to distinguish Byul's face in the semi-darkness. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Byul said, finally averting her eyes. "This isn't my blood."

"Oh-- Oh."

Yongsun took a step back, which made Byul instantly look up at her again. "You have nothing to be afraid of."

"But I am, Byul," she said, her voice lowering to a whisper. "What happened?"

Byul stepped away from the sink and closer to Yongsun. She was calm, deliberate, and Yongsun felt like a wild animal ready to bolt when Byul took her face in her hands (damp but cold hands) and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "Everything is fine. I'm taking care of it."

"It what, Byulie? What--" Yongsun felt herself shiver, eyes trying to read Byul's face. Those impenetrable, unreadable eyes. The thin, tightly closed lips. "What is going on?" 

There was only silence for a second. The eye-contact was broken when Byul reached for her face again, this time wiping at her cheek. Yongsun's hand flew up to touch her skin, meeting Byul's cold fingers wiping something from her face. She didn't want to think there was blood on her, because that would be wrong, wrong, wrong--

"Will you do me a favor, love? I need to burn this coat. Will you go upstairs and tell everyone I will be with them in a moment?"

Yongsun nodded. She could feel her teeth chattering. Suddenly, the washing room didn't feel like a washing room anymore. It felt like another world, another universe in which Byul could get her to agree to anything. She nodded again, more effectively this time, clenching her jaw, and turned around to leave.

She turned back to Byul again almost immediately. "What did you do?"

Her voice broke midsentence. She didn't ask again, because she knew Byul had heard her. Beautiful, smiling Byul, standing there next to the sink, with arms covered in blood and hands that barely moved. 

"You have nothing to be afraid of."

And this time, when she said it, Yongsun realized she had never been more scared to hear that sentence in her life.


End file.
